Pottery Barn Kids' Personalized Beach Tote

Right as we were finishing up packing for our vacation a few weeks ago, I remembered that some of our friends had sent Baba G a really cute beach tote just after he was born. I'd stowed it away in his closet since he arrived in January and summer fun was pretty much the last thing on my mind at that point.

But I pulled it out in the nick of time for our trip, and it really came in handy. As you can see, our friends had it personalized. It's from Pottery Barn Kids, and while this exact design appears to have been discontinued, they have a lot of other options remaining.

This bag, called a "Fairfax Striped Tote," costs about $50, zips closed at the top, and there's an inner zipped pocket as well. It was comfortable to carry and was just the right size for all of Baba G's "stuff" that we hauled around the resort — ranging from sunscreen to snacks to towels to diapers.

The bottom line: This isn't something I would've bought for Baba G on my own, but I thought it was a really cool gift. So much so that I plan to get a personalized beach tote like this (though they also sell them at lots of other places besides Pottery Barn Kids) for any of my fun-in-the-sun-loving friends who have kids in the future.

Adventure BanZ Baby Sunglasses

Since today's holiday (Labor Day, for those outside the US and Canada) has come to signal the end of summer, I thought I should write about a particularly summery product: baby sunglasses.

For us, these ended up coming in handy for a reason that's totally unconnected to the season (that kind of rhymed). Baba G had an eye exam where he had to get his pupils dilated... and they freakishly stayed that way for nearly two days. Since he goes on a multi-hour stroller walk each afternoon, the sunglasses were key. But otherwise you'd want them so that your kid can play the role of a bad-ass, like so:

Don't front.

I had no intention of buying BG sunglasses, but got sucked into it when purchasing his wide-brimmed hat. That damn Amazon and its "recommendations." People seemed to like the Adventure BanZ brand (don't get me started on that z... or the fact that it's capitalized. Reminds me of this classic Ben Stiller/MTV sketch from '98 (2:55 mark, and wow, do I feel old now)).

But ANYWAY, we got the glasses at the same time we bought the hat, and when put together they put BG in full adventurer mode.

Give me my own show on Animal Planet, already.

The bottom line: I would assume baby sunglasses are nice to have when your kid needs to spend time in the sun and a wide-brimmed hat isn't enough (or isn't practical at the moment). They're definitely great for when your kid has an eye exam and has to stay out of brightly lit areas. The Adventure BanZ glasses have a wide, soft-elastic band which keeps them in place. But the reality is that we've only put these glasses on BG a few times in 7.5 months. When he has his daily stroller walk, he's already shielded from the sun thanks to both his hat and the sun shield that flips down on his stroller (which usually makes even the hat unnecessary).

It might just be that we aren't as outdoorsy as others who could find more use for kiddie sunglasses. Maybe if you went to the beach a lot they'd be indispensable. But that's not the case for us.

Does any else have baby sunglasses and actually use them?

BOB Weather Shield (or any rain/wind stroller shield, really)

So you know that heat wave I mentioned in my last post? It's still pounding us here in Chicago—but there was a brief respite from the sun's rays for a few moments yesterday. Unfortunately those few moments involved hurricane-like winds, torrential rain, and Armageddon-looking skies. All of this nastiness went down approximately five minutes AFTER I'd left my condo for the first time that afternoon. I'd walked a (long) block and a half down the street when Mother Nature decided to go berzerker.

I was already pretty wet by the time I ducked into a random indent I spied in an apartment building's sidewalk-front. I was staying out of the worst of the weather... but then peered above me and saw a ton of window-based A/C units teetering on rotted-out chunks of wood. Death by Air Conditioning Unit—wasn't there a Seinfeld episode where that happened? No thanks.

So I BOLTED back home—seriously running the fastest I have in, I think, ever. (I HATE running.) But while I was going from Pathetic-Looking Wet Chick to Ultimate Drowned Rat status, inspiration struck me for a product write-up. And that product would be the BOB Weather Shield.

Was Baba G out with me during the storm? No. But if he were, I would've been ready, thanks to the Weather Shield. Here's the official picture of it:

The BOB stroller we have is one of those jogging ones, and right now BG is still too little to use it for that. So we've been attaching a "converter bar" in order to place his car seat on top of the BOB, facing us, and walk around with him. Turns out the weather shield can be draped and secured over an infant car seat riding on top of the stroller—nice!

With the shield pulled up to ensure BG was ready for our walk...

Shield down!

Side view: it's secured around the front, sides, and back. And would ya look at that skyline!

Through the Looking Glass (er, Plastic)

Now, I will forewarn anyone who tries to put the BOB Weather Shield on this way that it does take a bit of effort to totally secure all of the little elastic bands to the point where one doesn't fly up while you're pulling another down. But if it's not a super-windy day, you don't even really need all of the sides tied down. We also have a weather shield for a stroller we don't even own yet (one of the Uppa ones we plan to buy once BG can sit up a bit better).

The other thing to note is that it's not like you have to either have the shield on or leave it at home. It bunches up (or folded, if you're fancy) and can be stuffed into one of the many hidden pockets or zipped-off areas that seem to be plentiful across all modern strollers. Then if bad weather hits while you're fifteen minutes from home, you can just whip the shield on and protect your kid from the elements... while you most likely still get soaked because you forgot your umbrella/coat/hat.

The bottom line: My point in reviewing this product wasn't to say that the BOB stroller/weather shield combo is superior to other strollers/brands or anything, but rather to highly recommend that you have SOME type of stroller-shield thingy on hand if you live somewhere that isn't always 75 degrees and sunny with no wind or rain or snow. But if you DO live in that magical place, Baba G just told me that he wants us to come visit you.

We're waiting for our invite...

i play Babywear Brim Hat

First and foremost, I hope you all had a Happy 4th of July! Baba G is currently screaming his head off in his nursery (and his daddy is coming to his rescue) now that Chicago's big Navy Pier fireworks extravaganza has kicked into full swing. I never thought the day would come where I hate fireworks, but here we are.

A few hours ago, however, BG was happy as a clam. Here's proof:

Bring on the fireworks! I think...

Anywho, in honor of the recent and ongoing heat wave, I thought I'd write about BG's sun hat. Its official name is the "i play Babywear Brim hat," and while his is khaki, they make them in every color imaginable—and in several different styles, too.

I love it because it's lightweight, doesn't seem to bother him (it isn't too tight and can be rotated around easily) and does a great job of keeping the sun off of his face while he's on his daily stroller ride. Yes, he's just on a stroller ride in the pic below, not an African safari.

Ready to roll

And here he is with it on as we were going into Wrigley Field for his very first Cubs game a few months ago. (They won that day, so his expectations will be unrealistically high forever... the way it should be, I guess.)

Brim Up for the pic!

I recently was given a ton of gently used stuff from a friend and was elated to find a blue Babywear Brim Hat in the collection. Not only because I like the one BG has so much already, but also because the fact that my friend had bought one for her son as well led me to feel confident I'd made a good purchase. Believe it or not, I've hardly bought anything for Baba G myself because he's gotten so many gifts and wonderful hand-me-downs. The i play hat is one of the few things I've shelled out dough for—and it's been worth it.

The bottom line: If you're looking for a great baby hat for daily use or just special days at the beach or in the sun, this is it. It comes in a 0-6 month size and a 6-18 month size. The smaller khaki one I picked is currently $10.50 on Amazon.

Stay cool, kids!